Time is running out for the Utah Hockey Club in their playoff bid, but strong play over the final 11 games could turn hope into late-April hockey.
Utah (32-28-11, 75 points) will close the season series against the Eastern Conference’s Tampa Bay Lightning by making its debut in the Sunshine State on Thursday night. The first-year club beat the Lightning 6-4 in the first-ever meeting on Saturday.
While that outcome was coach Andre Tourigny’s group’s third victory in five contests (3-2-0), the team failed to produce a homestand sweep two nights later.
The Detroit Red Wings won 5-1 Monday night as Utah managed only Dylan Guenther’s team-leading 26th goal before allowing five unanswered by the Motor City visitors.
In addition to the weekend win over Tampa Bay, the stretch featured a 5-2 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday in the first game of the homestand.
Utah sits eight points behind St. Louis with two important games in hand against the Blues, who slot into the No. 2 wild-card spot in the Western Conference.
Postseason hopefuls Vancouver and Calgary are sandwiched between St. Louis and Utah.
Tourigny said emulating the Lightning, who have raised two Cups in five seasons, would be a good path to follow.
“Winning once, it’s incredible. Winning on a consistent base every year and be a contender every year… you need to look at what they do and what’s the recipe,” he said.
Added former Lightning defenseman Mikhail Sergachev: “If you do things the right way, you’re going to win more games. That’s what I learned in Tampa.”
Clayton Keller has 24 tallies and a club-high 78 points for Utah. Logan Cooley is third in goal scoring with 21.
For the Lightning (41-25-5, 87 points), Anthony Cirelli may be sporting a shield these days because of a badly bruised right eye, but there is no hiding the fact he is playing inspired hockey.
Skating in his 500th game Tuesday night against the Pittsburgh Penguins, the center netted twice in a four-goal first period to help snap his club snap a two-game losing skid with a 6-1 win in the three-game homestand’s opener.
A third-round pick (No. 72 overall) by the organization in 2015, the Etobicoke, Ontario, product has been a vital cog in the success of Tampa Bay and his native Canada, which won the 4 Nations Face-off championship over the U.S. squad.
Cirelli, 27, has set career highs in goals (26) and points (52), plus has played a major role defensively.
Centering the second line with Brandon Hagel and Nick Paul, Cirelli and his wing mates are usually responsible for stopping the opponent’s top line, which meant battling all night with Sidney Crosby’s group that featured Rickard Rakell and Bryan Rust on Tuesday.
Tampa Bay’s second line was outstanding for the most part — it did allow Rust’s tally while holding a six-goal lead — compiling a combined plus-6 and helping limit the visitors to 15 shots.
“Obviously, as a young guy you come in and just try to work hard to stay in the league,” said Cirelli. “Over the years, I’ve learned a lot of stuff from veteran guys… That whole (Penguins) line is unbelievable.”
Nikita Kucherov reached 101 points via a three-point night while defenseman Ryan McDonagh, who will play in his 1,000th game Thursday, had a goal and an assist for the first time this season.
–Field Level Media
